Flyers Mailbag: Not the time for 'rentals'

It's been a while since we opened up the Twitter mailbag, not that there hasn't been plenty of discussion in the past couple months. The Olympics are nearly over and the NHL resumes practicing today so what better time than now to kick up the discussion for the home stretch?

@davegisaac Will the Flyers pickup a rental d-man for a playoff run? #FlyersMailbag— Jimmy Forte (@JimmyForte28) February 18, 2014

This isn't the year for that and I say that for a couple reasons.

First of all, the corps is crowded enough. With the team carrying eight defensemen, it would be tough for a newcomer to crack the lineup unless the Flyers traded away at least one blueliner. The Olympic trade freeze thaws out at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night. Teams have 10 days to wheel and deal before the deadline at 3 p.m. March 5. But let's face it – this team isn't one player away from a Stanley Cup.

It doesn't make much sense to pay a big price in a trade for a "rental." In terms of dollars, sure, a pending free agent wouldn't present much of a problem. He'd come off the books in the summer, when the Flyers really need to re-assess their defense with Kimmo Timonen likely retiring and Andrej Meszaros likely leaving as a free agent. If they think they're getting a guy who makes sense in the future, like they did when they traded for and re-signed Nick Grossmann, that's a different story.

@jsaquella: @davegisaac How likely is it that next season's goalie duo is Steve Mason & Cal Heeter? #FlyersMailbag— jsaquella (@jsaquella) February 18, 2014

I'd say it's pretty likely. Heeter has played well in the AHL with the Adirondack Phantoms and would be a cheap backup next season. His 15-19-0 record doesn't look so hot, but his 2.48 goals-against average and .916 save percentage is all right. He's a restricted free agent, so the Flyers would have to re-sign him, but he won't cost that much. His cap hit this season is $783,750. A guy with no NHL experience won't garner the $1.6 million the Flyers are playing Ray Emery this season. The team has already made it clear Mason is the starter, so why not have Heeter there if the plan is to play him sparingly?

@davegisaac hyperthetical; which 2 out of the 3 centers would you deal in package for Weber, Laughton,Schenn,Couturier #FlyersMailbag— Jim Mager (@Jmager_22) February 18, 2014

The cost for Weber is going to be sky-high for any team. If the Flyers really want to-- nope.

Not going to fall for this again.

It's happened too many times.

@davegisaac How many of their remaining games would you expect Flyers need to win to make the playoffs? #FlyersMailbag— Peter Gonella (@petegonella) February 18, 2014

That's a tough question because the rest of the Metropolitan Division is playing so well and it's so tight outside of the Penguins. I'd say they're safe if they win 14 of their remaining 23 games. Without points in those idiotic shootout games, that would give them 94 points.

@davegisaac should the #Flyers give up on Weber and focus on Seth Jones? #Flyersmailbag— Lance Cote-Tenasco ™ (@Lancecote) February 18, 2014

Yes, the Flyers should give up on trying to trade for Shea Weber! Enough already!

They signed him to a mammoth offer sheet that they didn't think Nashville could match. The Preds gritted their teeth and matched. Nice effort, but GM David Poile won't trade him now. Why would he considering after July 1, he will have paid Weber $41 million of a $110 million deal, of which Weber still has 12 of 14 seasons to complete?

If a potential Shea Weber trade were a person, it would be the collective restaurant waitstaff in one of the greatest movies of this generation.

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There. Can we finally move on from Shea Weber? Please?

@davegisaac Do you think the Flyers will be all in on Girardi & Niskanen in FA? What would they realistically offer? #FlyersMailbag— Richard Staron (@rstaron75) February 19, 2014

I don't think so. What the Flyers need is a bona-fide No. 1 defenseman and obviously they're hard to come by. Girardi and Niskanen will probably be two big names on the free-agent market for defensemen, but there's no sense in the Flyers overpaying for them. Who should they go after? I like Islanders D-man Andrew MacDonald, who leads the league in blocked shots by a tax bracket and, speaking of money, doesn't break the bank with a $550,000 cap hit this season.